1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a side structure of a vehicle body. More specifically, the present invention relates to vehicle body side portion structure applied to a vehicle body including a side door turnably supported around a door hinge attached to a pillar. The structure has a preset gap between the surfaces of the pillar and the side door which face each other, and the centroid position of the cross-sectional surface of the side door is arranged so as to be offset towards the exterior side in the vehicle widthwise direction relative to the centroid position of the cross-sectional surface of the pillar.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technology has been disclosed in the Official Gazette of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 11-310036 that deals with effectively absorbing load of impact at the time of a frontal collision. A bracket made from sheet material is provided at the front end portion of the front side door. The front edge portion of the bracket is fastened to a door hinge while being joined with the front edge portion of an impact beam extending towards the rear side of the vehicle from the middle portion of this bracket. The rear end portion of the bracket is joined to a surface on the side of a door panel towards the interior of the vehicle cab.
Due to the above-described configuration, when the load of impact at the time of frontal collision is inputted to the front side door via the front pillar and door hinge, the load inputted into the front side door can be stopped at the impact beam because the front end portions of the door hinge and impact beam are arranged at approximately the same place in the widthwise direction. As a result, deformation of the front side door can be suppressed.
The above-described prior art, however, could be improved in the following areas.
Generally, the centroid position of the cross-sectional surface of the front side door is offset (i.e., shifted) towards the exterior side of the vehicle in the widthwise direction relative to the centroid position of the cross-sectional surface of the pillar. Further, a preset gap is set between the front surface of the front side door and the rear end surface of the front pillar. When there is a frontal collision, the front pillar rotates around a door hinge until the rear end surface of the front pillar interferes with the front surface of the front side door. In the middle of that rotation, the door hinge hits the front surface of the front side door and after this contact occurs a bending moment (i.e., bending moment bending the front side door towards the exterior side of the vehicle cab) acts upon the front side door towards the external side in the vehicle widthwise direction. This point also applied to the above-mentioned prior art.
In light of the above-described background, the proposal of a structure that effectively restrains deformation of a vehicle frame at the time of frontal collision has been desired.
Further, a door device is disclosed in the Official Gazette of JP-A No. 10-119574 where a latch supported at the turning end side of the door panel meshes with a striker on the vehicle body side, whereby the door is closed. When this meshing action is released, the door is opened or released. Nonetheless, this device is not able to provide the above-described desired proposal.